Futures up; it's BoE and Fed day

(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European stock markets are expected to be in the green on IG futures in the aftermath of the election of the new US president, which saw Republican candidate Donald Trump secure a landslide victory over Democrat Kamala Harris.

On the central bank front, the Bank of England will announce its monetary policy decision in the afternoon while in the evening it will be the Fed's turn.

Both institutions are expected to cut interest rates for the second time this year, which has fueled market optimism.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to rise 0.3 percent or 87.5 points after finishing 1.5 percent in the red at 33,940.72.

Paris' CAC 40 is given up 0.2 percent or 14.7 points, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to open in the green by 0.4 percent while the FTSE 100 is expected up 0.4 percent or 29.5 points.

Among Italy's smaller listings on Wednesday evening, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.6 percent to 45,706.51, the Small-Cap lost 0.9 percent to 27,670.88, and Italy Growth gave up 1.1 percent to 7,824.90.

Returning to Milan, on the Mib best performance for Tenaris, up 6.8 percent. It is followed by DiaSorin, up 5.6 percent. Yesterday, the pharmaceutical blue chip reported that it closed the first nine months of the year with a profit of EUR141 million from EUR112 million as of September 30, 2023.

For the six-month period, revenues stood at EUR876 million from EUR846 million in the first nine months of 2023.

Also on the podium was Buzzi, up 4.8 percent, despite posting revenues of EUR3.18 billion in the first nine months, down from EUR3.20 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Cement and concrete sales volumes are down 6.4 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, "penalized by the challenging market environment in Central Europe and the lack of recovery in Italy and the U.S. during the summer months," the company points out.

Leonardo, however, gained 3.5 percent followed by Stellantis, up 1.8 percent.

Azimut Holding rose 0.2 percent after announcing Wednesday that October net inflows amounted to EUR1.73 billion.

Total net inflows since the beginning of the year amount to EUR14.3 billion, exceeding the company's annual target of more than EUR14 billion after only ten months.

Poste Italiane rallied 0.3 percent after reporting Wednesday that it ended the third quarter and first nine months with sharply rising profits and revenues.

Net income rose to EUR1.60 billion from EUR1.52 billion in the nine months year-on-year and to EUR569 million from EUR382 million in the quarter. The best performance among the units was Insurance Services, with profit flying to EUR761 million from EUR249 million in the nine months. Financial Services also did well, at EUR477 million from EUR169 million.

UniCredit ended at the bottom, giving up 5.3 percent. Net income at the Piazza Gae Aulenti bank rose to EUR2.51 billion in the third quarter from EUR2.32 billion in the same period a year earlier and to EUR7.75 billion from EUR6.70 billion in the nine months.

EBITDA rose to EUR3.85 billion in the quarter from EUR3.64 billion and to EUR11.95 billion in the nine months from EUR10.88 billion.

In addition, the board approved the distribution of an interim dividend for 2024 of EUR1.44 billion, for 92.61 cents for each of the 1.6 million outstanding shares.

Inwit also hurt, down 5.3 percent. Last night, with markets closed, the company reported that it closed the first nine months of the year with a net profit of EUR266 million, up 6.9% from EUR248.9 million as of September 30, 2023.

During the period, consolidated revenues stood at EUR772.1 million from EUR713.2 million in the first nine months of 2023.

On the Mid-Cap, Credem took the top spot with a 5.6 percent rise. The bank reported Tuesday that it ended the first nine months with net income up 11 percent year-on-year to EUR485.9 million from EUR439.0 million in the same period a year earlier.

Ariston Holding ended in what and gave up 5.7 percent after releasing data for the first nine months on Wednesday, reporting revenues of EUR1.91 billion, down 15 percent from EUR2.25 billion in the same period 2023.

Anima Holding - up 0.3% - reported Wednesday that it closed the first nine months of the year with a consolidated net profit from EUR172.0 million, up 78% from EUR96.4 million in the same period last year.

Cementir Holding -- up 1.2 percent -- reported Wednesday that it closed the first nine months with a pre-tax profit of EUR210.4 million, down 13 percent from EUR241.3 million in the same period of 2023.

Revenues amounted to EUR1.23 billion from EUR1.30 billion, thus down 4.6 percent.

On the Small-Cap, Cellularline gained 1.6 percent after announcing Wednesday that it closed the first nine months of the year with a profit of EUR1.1 million from a loss of EUR300,000 reported on Sept. 30, 2023.

Olidata closed in the green by 2.0 percent, recovering part of last sessions losses after its involvement in the Sogei investigation.

Industrie De Nora finished down 5.0 percent. The company closed the first nine months of the year with a net profit of EUR52.5 million from EUR198.6 million as of Sept. 30, 2023.

Among SMEs, Idntt -- in the green by 0.7 percent -- reported on Wednesday that the first video game of its subsidiary IDNTT+, "The Island of the Paguri by Cicciogamer89," a fantasy universe born from the imagination of creator Cicciogamer89 and created in Fortnite, will be launched on December 1.

EdiliziAcrobatica closed up 2.2 percent after reporting Wednesday that it ended the first nine months with revenues of EUR108.5 million, down from EUR118 million in the same period a year earlier.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed 0.3 percent in the red, the Hang Seng advanced 2.1 percent while the Shanghai Composite finished up 2.6 percent.

In New York, the Dow rose 3.6 percent, the Nasdaq gained 3.0 percent while the S&P 500 picked up 2.5 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0763 from USD1.0728 on Wednesday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2941 versus USD1.2883 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD75.15 per barrel from USD75.06 per barrel Wednesday night. Gold trades at USD2,659.09 an ounce from USD2,665.99 an ounce last night.

On Thursday's economic calendar at 0930 CET is the construction sector PMI index for Italy, France, Germany and the eurozone while at 1100 CET will come out eurozone retail sales.

At 1300 CET, room for the BoE interest rate decision while at 1430 CET the US unemployment claims will come out.

At 2000 CET, it will be the Fed's turn to announce its interest rate decisions.

Several results are expected in Piazza Affari including Azimut Holding, Banca Generali, Banca Ifis, Banca Mediolanum and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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